On Learning Japanese

Some years ago in the old newsletter that the Shadows Of Iga used to print, Mr. Hayes said that if you plan to study ninjutsu, you should learn Japanese.

Back in the "old days," Hatsumi Sensei taught what he referred to as nin-po. I called it "ninjutsu" in the USA in the 1970s, as that term was more recognizable. I found the ninja philosophy to be radically at odds with the conventional martial arts philosophies with which I was familiar in the late 1970s. Without the ability to receive teaching in Japanese, I would have lost the profundity of the differences in philosophy.

These days, the ninja approach seems to be out of favor or fashion in Noda-shi (Noda City, Japan). In fact, in some Bujinkan circles, it now seems to have become fashionable to ridicule those who wish to focus on the ninja aspects of our root traditions. Students practice straight-forward "omote-style" budo, without any need to delve into the ninja "ura" view of winning ways.

We certainly do not need to speak Japanese to develop good taijutsu. Very few of my students speak even a few words of Japanese, and yet their martial arts are very impressive.

But, then, like Hatsumi Sensei, these days I do not claim to be teaching ninjutsu as the predominant curriculum at my dojo...

- Stephen K. Hayes